Blog #4- Technology Integration??????

As an educator, I believe we have many technologies available for us to use, but what seems to lack in most districts is the professional development and ongoing training. I believe our school has the technology available to use, but not all of teachers in our building are ready for the “technology integration” aspect for that 21st century classroom. Most teachers are comfortable using the Internet and the Office Software (Word or PowerPoint), which is how they justify the integration of technology in their classroom. In the article it mentioned that the professional development training for technology was effective for non- instructional tasks rather than instructional tasks with the students. Training for teachers on tools they need to use, such as SharePoint (our school website) or SchoolMax (online grading) is important, but if teachers are struggling with that aspect how will you ease the teachers' transition to integrating technology in their classroom. I think if we wanted to use the technology as an aid for student achievement we need to meet with teachers and give them ongoing training with the devices and software we have so they can begin to integrate them into their lessons.

It is not the quantity but it’s the quality. Same idea applies to technology, just because you have the technology doesn’t mean that teachers are using it. You can have all the technology in the world, but if you buy it and don’t know how it works or what all you can do with it, it will not be used by teachers. You need to start with technology that is easy to use so teachers feel comfortable with it and hopefully will become intrinsically motivated to use more and learn more. As I said earlier it all starts with the teachers, but teachers do need to be provided with that ongoing training, whether it is with an outside source or a group of teachers that meet once a month to discuss questions/concerns or share ideas.

Just in my classroom alone, I have a wireless projector, Tablet PC, an Elmo, 2 scanners, 3 digital cameras, and 30 laptops available for me to use. Have I received in depth ongoing training, not really? I do consider myself intrinsically motivated because I was given all of this equipment and I wasn’t going to let it sit there and not be used. I have explored some options for next school year, but I am still developing lessons that are going to integrate the technology and software, I was provided with. This year the students have used Photoshop to create computer art projects, created a PowerPoint presentation to explain the Six Guidelines of Photographic Composition and I use PowerPoint almost every time I introduce a lesson. Next year my goal is to create more “active” mini lectures, so the students are participating during the lecture, work more on art critiques using online sources, and I am incorporating a Windows Movie Maker project that deals with the elements of art and design.

Your focus is on that students, but you as a teacher need to feel comfortable using technology equipment, because in today’s society your students have been expose to it since they were born. As a teacher, you want to get adjust your curriculum so you are integrating the technology but not miss out on the content of your lessons. You ultimate goal is to create a fun, active learning environment, where the students and the teacher have open lines of communication.